I always find it interesting that folks can drink bitter beers and rave but can't handle sours. I can drink both, they each have their place and time. I think Gueuze Tilquin is an amazing beer. German Gose beers have fruit in them so there must be some exceptions to the Reinheitsgebot .
I saw a Kimchi Flavored Beer, I didn't try it, but I'm gonna guess worst ever

Sour beers are tasty, but after one I'm usually on to something else.

Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence - John Locke

The wife and I went to one of those places where they have 400 different beers available, and if you drink one of each over time you get a tee shirt. Anyway I figured I'd splurge, so I ordered the most expensive one, about $20 for a 12 ounce pour. It was so bad I couldn't get past that initial sip. I don't remember what it was, nor have I ever tasted ass, but given a choice between the two, I'd try the ass first anytime.

Normally I drink Blue Moon, or some local beer brewed by New Glarus here in WI. I'm not picky, but no hoppy bitter or fruity IPA's for me, I'd rather dink toilet bowl water at a truck stop.

"I felt bad because I couldn't wheelie; until I met a man with no bicycle"

The wife and I went to one of those places where they have 400 different beers available, and if you drink one of each over time you get a tee shirt. Anyway I figured I'd splurge, so I ordered the most expensive one, about $20 for a 12 ounce pour. It was so bad I couldn't get past that initial sip. I don't remember what it was, nor have I ever tasted ass, but given a choice between the two, I'd try the ass first anytime.

Normally I drink Blue Moon, or some local beer brewed by New Glarus here in WI. I'm not picky, but no hoppy bitter or fruity IPA's for me, I'd rather dink toilet bowl water at a truck stop.

I'd always filled my trunk with New Glarus when I got back to WI.

LAtely though I haven't been thinking about it. We now have 6 small breweries in Memphis that produce some decent stuff.

Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence - John Locke

The wife and I went to one of those places where they have 400 different beers available, and if you drink one of each over time you get a tee shirt. Anyway I figured I'd splurge, so I ordered the most expensive one, about $20 for a 12 ounce pour. It was so bad I couldn't get past that initial sip. I don't remember what it was, nor have I ever tasted ass, but given a choice between the two, I'd try the ass first anytime.

Normally I drink Blue Moon, or some local beer brewed by New Glarus here in WI. I'm not picky, but no hoppy bitter or fruity IPA's for me, I'd rather dink toilet bowl water at a truck stop.

??? ass?? truck stop toilet bowl water?? and I thought I had a diverse and eclectic palate... << note to self: stick to "ass" not "ass" and leave toilet bowl water to the dog >>

Berliner Pilsner is a very fine beer that I drank for years. Pity it's not available in the US. I even contacted the brewery to check.

I drank SP lager (South Pacific) when I was in PNG three years ago. It's owned by Heineken now but used to be privately owned, and they only sell in the country. I heard you could get it in Australia but I didn't see any. Anyway, it's a cheap local brew but I really like it. Last time I had one was in the airport in Port Moresby

Last edited by Andy69; 2 Weeks Ago at 10:37 AM.

Whenever the legislators endeavour to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience, and are left to the common refuge which God hath provided for all men against force and violence - John Locke

Help me out with this one - I thought originally that sour beers were indicative of a spoiled or bad fermentation of a specific type of beer (back in the day, of course). Lambics and fruit beers were invented to cover the sour flavor and sell it. The modern sour ale is an intentionally funkified beer; in other words, they're not technically 'bad' beers because they were designed to give this specific spoiled flavor. Or, to put it another way, modern breweries have figured out this specific spoilage and have utilized it to craft a palatable beer.

This is not correct. Lambics were originally fermented in open containers with wild yeast (and it's still possible to find beers made this way, although they are quite rare). The sour flavor is a characteristic of the yeast native to the Flanders region of Belgium as well as the relatively high fermentation temperature (as well as non-strict temperature control). While fruit was often added, it was more of a farmhouse ethic of "put what you got into the brew" as much as any intentional cover-up. Fruit lambics are now a distinct style, but I'm more of a fan of the non-fruit variety.

The problem with many American interpretations of the traditional lambic is that they don't have the ability to make them with the traditional method. The wild yeast in the U.S. would not create the same flavor, and of course in many places there is insufficient wild yeast for the traditional method to even work. The better sour brewers simply use a cultured yeast similar to the traditional yeasts and ferment at a higher temperature. The bad ones use the shortcut of adding citric acid and other souring agents to artificially create a sour flavor.

I drank SP lager (South Pacific) when I was in PNG three years ago. It's owned by Heineken now but used to be privately owned, and they only sell in the country. I heard you could get it in Australia but I didn't see any. Anyway, it's a cheap local brew but I really like it. Last time I had one was in the airport in Port Moresby

I've drank SP lager before. About 35 years ago. I can remember because imports were big at the time and I had a bottle collection going. I agree with you, I thought it was pretty decent.

Never really cared for any of the Abby Ale's that I've tried. Just never got used to the taste. Didn't like EKU 28. Thought it had a sweet taste followed by almost a very dry red wine like after taste. Haven't had either in 30+ years. Only redeeming value was that it was billed as the strongest beer in the world at the time (11%).

This is not correct. Lambics were originally fermented in open containers with wild yeast (and it's still possible to find beers made this way, although they are quite rare). The sour flavor is a characteristic of the yeast native to the Flanders region of Belgium as well as the relatively high fermentation temperature (as well as non-strict temperature control). While fruit was often added, it was more of a farmhouse ethic of "put what you got into the brew" as much as any intentional cover-up. Fruit lambics are now a distinct style, but I'm more of a fan of the non-fruit variety.

The problem with many American interpretations of the traditional lambic is that they don't have the ability to make them with the traditional method. The wild yeast in the U.S. would not create the same flavor, and of course in many places there is insufficient wild yeast for the traditional method to even work. The better sour brewers simply use a cultured yeast similar to the traditional yeasts and ferment at a higher temperature. The bad ones use the shortcut of adding citric acid and other souring agents to artificially create a sour flavor.

That's a good article. I moved from Milwaukee in 75 after graduating from UW and didn't know what destroyed Schlitz. BITD you were either a Schlitz drinker or Pabst drinker. I don't remember anyone drinking Miller but a few drank Blatz. G Heileman in LaCrosse sold a beer "Special Export" and that was considered "premium" brew.

Milwaukee was a union town, and many people thought the unions killed the breweries.

I remember coming back to Chicago in the 80s and somehow Heileman's "Old Style" seemed to be all the rage there. (Sort of like how Yuengling took over DC all of a sudden, or LaBatt Blue in Rochester NY.)

While at UW I remember "Huber" brewery, what we called "Huber Moose Piss". (I suppose some would use that for Hamm's -- sort like the old Firesign Theater bit "Good old Bear Whiz Beer -- It's in the water, that's what makes it yellow".)

In college my roomies and I went with "Fox Head 400" brewed in Waukesha (just west of Milwaukee). Their hook was a 28-bottle case instead of 24 (in those days the most common thing was returnable 24 bottle case. The cardboard case had a top that could flip open and you could get rid of the bottle separators and the case made a nice storage container).

As far as bad beer, I lived in Annapolis MD for a while, and couldn't get into the whole "National Boh" thing. but I guess if you're native Baltimorian, it's the bee's knees.